Bottle-cover-sewing machine



(No Model.) 4 Sheets-Sheet 1.

J. DOUGLAS &'v. HANSEN. BOTTLE COVER SEWING MAGHINE.

N0. 600;521 Patented Mar; 15, 1898.

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(No Model.)

J. DOUGLASK: V. HANSEN.

BOTTLE COVER SEWING MACHINE.

Patented Mar. 16,1898.

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(N0 Modem 4 sheetss heet 4; J. DOUGLAS 8: V. HANSEN. BOTTLE COVER SEWING MACHINE.

No. 600,521.; Patented Mar. 15,1898.

NlTED ST TES,

ASSIGNORS TO JERSEY.

ATENT FFICE.

THE SINGER MANUFACTURING COMPANY, OF NE\V BOTTLE-COVER-SEWING MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 600,521, dated March 15, 1898.

Application filed March 25, 1897. Serial No. 629,188. (No model.)

lar or hollow jackets to be used for bottle covers or wrappers.

To this end the improved machine comprises a hollow cylindrical work-supporting arm or horn, above which are arranged the vertical]y-reciprocating needle-bars and needles and within which are placed the looptaking devices cooperating with the needles in forming stitches. Surrounding the worksupporting cylinder a curved or circular workguide is preferably employed to direct the end of the mat first formed around the said cylinder, so that said first end of the mat may be joined to the last-formed end thereof to produce a complete hollow or circular jacket. The work is preferably fed by an intermittin gly-rotatin g toothed cylinder or feed-wheel arranged between the needles, and to cooperate with this feeding-cylinder a pair of alternating or alternately rising and falling pressers or presser-feet for each needle are preferably employed, one presser of each pair resting on and swinging forward with the work as the latter is advanced in feeding, the other presser of each pair being meanwhile lifted and the non-swinging pressers holding the work stationary when the swinging pressers are lifted and being returned. To sever the threads when a bottle-cover has been completed, thread-cutters or knives arranged below the throat-plate or within the work-supporting cylinder are employed, these threadcutters or knives (one for each stitch-forming mechanism) being attached to or operated by a longitudinally-sliding rod within said cylinder and which is moved to sever the threads by the attendant preferably by means of a treadle-aotuated lever. The material to form the jackets or wrappers is fed to the stitchforming mechanisms at the upper side of the work supporting cylinder and preferably from a table the front edge of which is 011 a level, or approximately so, with the upper side of said cylinder, said table for convenience being preferably connected with the work-bench on which the machine is mounted by a double hinge-joint. The loose material is advanced to the needles by the attendant by means of a sliding leveling plate or bar having a depending gage or pusher to shove the material forward.

In the drawings, Figure l is a front side elevation of the improved machine, the table for supporting the material being removed. Fig. 2 is a front end view of the same, partly in section, showing the material-s11pporting table. Fig. 3 is a detail view of the needlebar-operating mechanism, and Fig. i is a detail view of the presser-foot-operating mechanism. Fig. 5 is a plan view, part-1y in section, of the work-supporting arm and its mechanism; and Fig. (5 is a vertical sectional elevation of the same. Figs. 7 and 8 are detail views of a slightly different form of workguide from that shown in Figs. 1 and 2; and Fig. 9 is a detail view of the locking device which determines the position in which the machine'is to be stopped before the threadcutters are operated to sever the threads, this view being partly in section 011 line 9 9 of Fig. 1.

The frame of the machine comprises the standard A, the overhanging arm A, and the cylindrical work-supporting arm or horn A within which latter is journaled the rotating driving-shaft B,having the crank Z) connected by a pitman b to an arm Z1 of the needle-operating rock-shaft B journaled in the arm A. The rock-shaft B is provided with crankarms, as 11 connected by pitmen, as N, with the needle-bars C, carrying the needles 0 to operate said needle-bars in the usual manner. The shaft B is provided with gears b meshing with similar gears I) on short shafts b journaled within the cylindrical work-sup port A said shafts b carrying ordinary rotating single chain-stitch loopers or hooks b cooperating with the said needles 0 in forming single-thread chain-stitch seams in the usual manner. It will be understood that any desired number of these or equivalent stitchforming mechanisms may be employed, although .two, as herein shown, willordinarily be sufficient.

The work is fed by means of an intermittingly-rotating serrated feeding ring or cylinder D, turning freely on a portion of the arm A and operated by thelever-dog d, receiving its movements from cams on the shaftB, as fully described in United States Patent No. 541,840.

Cooperating with the feeding-cylinder D are two pairs of alternating pressers c f, one pair for each stitch-formingmechanism. The pressers or presser-feet care carried by bars E, having vertical movements only, and the pressers or presser-feet f are carried by swin ging bars f, pivoted at their upper ends, as at.

f to vertically-movable. bars F, properly guided in the machine-frame. Pivoted at f to lugs or thickened parts f of thebars F are levers G, the rear ends of which are slotted for engagement with pins or screws g, carried.

by arms 9, fixed to the rock-shaft E the, for-v ward ends of said levers being jointed at e to brackets 6', attached to the presser-bars E. Thusas the shaft 13 isrocked alternate vertical movements will be imparted to the bars E and F and to the pressers e an d f, connected.

thereto, the pressers f resting onthework during the time the feeding movements are occurring and swinging forward w ith the work as the latter is advanced and the pressers, e resting on and holding the work when the pressers f are lifted and being returned. to their first positions by thespringsf attached at their upper endsto, the swinging bars f and bearing at their lower endsagainst parts.

of the stationary arm A. In these alternating rising andfalling movements of the pressers the fulcrums of the lever G. alternate. .be-. tweenthepivotal points 6 and f Thusvwhen the pressers e are being lifted thefulcrums of the levers G are atthe points f of the lugsf of the bars F, while the weightsbeing lifted are at the points 6 but when the pressersf are being lifted thefulcrums of the levers are l at the points 6 and the pointsf representv All of the pressers are prefer-.

the weights. ably serrated on their under sides, as shown,

and, the pressers f are also preferably hinged,

or jointed (see Fig, 2) to. thebrackets f, by whichthey are attached to the barsf.

I-Idenotes a table on which the loose straw or reeds from which thebottle covers, or jack-. ets are to be made is placed and ,on which it,

is evened and leveled byvthe attendantpreparatory to being fed to the stitch-forming mechanisms. Theforward edge of this ma. terial supporting and feedingtable is on a level, or approximately so, with the top of the work-supporting cylinder, A and. of the feeding-cylinder D,.said table preferably, in-

clining downward slightly toward thev machine,as shown in Fig.2, and being provided at itsright-handend (referring, to the posi-,

tion of the attendant) with a flange 71., against which the ends of the straw or reeds may be evened and by which the loose material will be guided in being moved forward to the stitch forming mechanism. The table is hinged at h to the upper ends of plates or bars h which are in turn hinged at their lower ends at h to the upturned parts it of platesor brackets 77, secured to the work bench or table which supports the machine. The hinges h 71. it will be observed, are so placed as to bend or fold in opposite directions. This double-hinged connection of the table with the Work-bench permits said table to be moved readily back and forth or from and toward the machine, as is necessary in operation, and still permits the table to be retained in an approximately level position.

Nearly surrounding the work-supporting arm or cylinder A is a curved or circular work-guide I, which is detachably secured to the base of the standard A and which preferably consists. of two curvedbars i, connected at their tops on the rear side of the cylinder A by a longitudinal bar 7 and at their bottoms bya second longitudinal bar which latter inclines downward at 11 and is rigidly joined to the attaching cross-bar i detachably secured by screws or set-nuts to the flange a at the base of the standard A, said bar 2' being preferably provided with a supporting or steadying pin or standard i The bar t" is preferably provided with threadretaining slots i intowhich the ends of the needle-threads may be drawn previously to I commencing to sew a bottle cover or wrapper to prevent said ends from being drawn down by the loopers.

The work guides or formers I are madein different sizes, according to the sizes or diameters of the wrappers or jackets which are to be made. Thus the guide or former shown in Figs. 1 and'2 has its curved bars 2' separated from the cylinder A? only far enough to. permit of an easy passage of the sewed matbetween said bars and cylinder as the end of the mat first formed isbrought around tobe joined to the last end to make the complete wrapper or jacket, while the guide or former shown in Figs. 7 and 8 has its bars "5 more widely separated from the cylinder and isprovided with a curved filling portion I, interposed between said bars and cylinder.

J is ,a leveler or feeder, preferably having a roughened or serrated lower surface and provided with a depending flange j, which holds said leveler or leveling-bar a determined distance above the table H and which engages the leveled loose material, so that the attendant by advancing said leveling-bar can push the material forward to the stitchforming mechanisms as the work is advanced by thefeed of the machine. The upper bar Q1 of the work-guide I is provided with an opening 11 so that said bar 1) may guide and support theleveler-bar to assist in keepingit in proper position,

To sever theneedle-threads at the completion of each wrapper and in such a manner as to leave a suitable length of thread beyond the last stitch, so that the seam will not readily ravel or rip, a thread-cutting device,

which is within the cylinder A or beneath the work-supporting parts or throat-plates a a thereof, is provided. This thread-cutting device, as herein shown, comprises a sliding rod 7c, jointed at its rear end to a bell-crank lever K, to the lower arm of which is attached a rod or connection k extending to a suitable treadle, so that the attendant may actuate the thread-cutting device by the foot, leaving the hands free to manipulate the work. To the sliding rod is are attached arms It, to which the knives or thread-cutters 70 70 are in turn secured. These knives are so placed that they can be moved into the path of the thread running from the loopers b to the work and are so constructed and arranged as to sever the threads held by the loopers on the proper sides of the loops to leave long ends of threads extending from the last stitches in the work. The loopers 5 face in opposite directions, or, as they are termed, are right and left hand loopers, and thus if the threads of both seams were simultaneously severed at the forward movement of the sliding bar 70 one thread end extending from the work would be short and the other would be long, owing to the fact that one thread-loop would be severed on the wrong side. To avoid this objection, the

knives or cutters are differently formed, the

form of a hook with its cutting edge within the hook. Thus when the sliding baris moved forward the knife 10 severs its adjacent thread; but at this forward movement the hooked knife k (the outerend of which is blunt) moves past its thread, which falls into the loop of the hook and is severed when the bar It is retracted by its returning-spring The knives 7& 711 when moved forward to sever or catch the thread, come within the range of travel of parts of the loopers b and to avoid injury to the knives or loopers by collision it is necessary to prevent movement of the sliding rod 7c and of the knives movable therewith except when said loopers are in such position that the knives may pass over them without coming into contact there with. To this end a disk m is attached to the squared outer end of the driving-shaft B, the periphery of the said disk overlapping the forward end of the rod 7t, so that said rod cannot be slid outward excepting when the notch m in the edge of said disk registers with said rod, at which time the loopers b geared to said driving-shaft, are in such positions that the knives may freely pass over them.

To gage the stopping of the machine in proper position to have the notch m register with the end ofthe rod 713, a spring-acted locking-dog N, having a lug n to enter a hole in the hub portion of the fly-wheel B rigidly fixed to the drivingshaft B, is provided. This locking-dog is not intended to serve as a stopping device when the machine is running at much speed; but when the speed of the machine has been slackened at the completion of a cover or jacket and the dog has been thrown over, so as to have its lug n pressed against the periphery of the hub of the fly-wheel by the spring at, said lug will enter said hole when the latter comes into register with said lug, and the machine will be stopped and locked with the notch m in the disk m in register with the end of the rod k, the hole in the hub of the fly-wheel being properly placed to secure this result.

P is a lifting-lever impinging against the top of a plate a and pivoted to a lifting-bar 19, to which is secured a cross head or bar 19 notched at its end to engage pins or screws entering the bars F, with which the swinging pressers f are connected. The bars F are connected through the levers G with the brackets 6, attached to the bars E, so that when the lifting-lever P is turned to raise the lifting-harp the bars F and E and the pressers f and 6, connected therewith, will also be lifted.

In the operation of the machine, in sewing a bottle cover or jacket, the attendant will preferably first lower the needles and then taking a handful of the loose straw or reeds spreads the same on the table H and evens the ends against the flange h of the table II and levels and pushes the same forward against the needles by means of the leveling and feeding bar J, the two separated needles serving at this time as a gage to bring the forward part of the loose material parallel to the work-supporting cylinder D. The machine is now started, and the mat formed by sewing the loose material together by the two parallel seams is directed around the cylinder A by the guide I until the first end of the mat meets the end thereof last sewed, and the attendant now ceases to push the loose material forward. As the sewed mat isdirected around the cylinder A by the guide I r and the end first sewed reached the edge of the table H, said table, the frontor inner end of which rests lightly against the work-supporting cylinder A yields backward slightly to permit the rising end of the mat to pass it. If the right quantity of material to form a bottle cover or jacket has been spread on the table II forward of the pushing-flange j of the leveling and feeding bar J, the stop-pin j on the said bar will now be in engagement with the bar t" of the guide I, so that by this contact of said stop-pin with said barthe attendant may be apprised that enough material to form a cover or jacket has been fed into the machine. Two complete circles of stitches will now have been made; but to prevent the seams from raveling a few more stitches to overlap the ends of the seams are formed, and then the machine is stopped in proper position, as hereinbefore described, and the cutting device is actuated to sever the threads, leaving the completed bottle cover or jacket free to be drawn off from the cylinder A Prior tocommencing to make each cover or jacket the ends of the threads are secured by being drawn into the retaining-slots i in the bar 2" of the work-guide I.

We do not wish to be understood as limiting our invention to the details shown and described, as these may be varied widely without departing from the spirit of the invention. Any other well-known or equivalent kind of stitching mechanism may be substituted for those herein shown, although the single-thread chain-stitch mechanisms are preferred owing to the elastic seams produced therebyand which permit the bottle-wrappers to stretch.

Having thus described our invention, we claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent- 1. In a machine for sewing bottle-covers, the combination with stitch-forming mechanisms, of a cylindrical work-support, a feeding ring or cylinder sustained by said work-support, and a curved or circular work-guide encircling said work support but separated therefrom.

2. In a machine for sewingbottle-covers, the combination with stitch-forming mechanisms, of a cylindrical work-support,-a feeding ring or cylinder sustained by said work-support, a curved or circular work-guide encircling said work-support but separated therefrom, and a feeding-table the forward end of which is adjacent to the top of said work-support.

3. In a machine for sewing bottle-covers, the combination with stitch-forming, feeding, work-guiding and thread-cutting devices, of a pair of alternating pressers for each set of stitch-forming devices, one presser of each pair resting on and moving forward with the work when the latter is advanced by the feed and the other presser of each pair holding the work when the swinging or horizontally-movable presser is lifted.

A. In a machine for sewing bottle-covers, the combination with stitch-forming and feeding mechanisms,and a work-supporting cylinder, of a non-automatic thread-severingdevice within said cylinder, and means for preventing said thread-severing device from being actuated by the attendant excepting at a particular point in the rotation of the driving-shaft.

5. In a machine for sewing bottle-covers, the combination with stitch-forming mechanisms each comprising a needle and a lower loop-taking device, of a work-supporting cylinder, a driving-shaft extending longitudinally of said cylinder and to which the said loop-taking devices are geared, a feeding mechanism, a rod longitudinally movable in said cylinder and provided with thread-severing knives, and a notched or recessed disk or device rotating with said shaft and arranged to overlap the end of said rod and thereby prevent the same from being actuated by the attendant to sever the threads excepting when the notch or recess thereof comes into register with the end of said rod.

6. In a machine for sewing bottle-covers, the combination with stitch-forming and feeding mechanisms, of a thread-cutting device the knives of which are arranged to sever the threads adjacent to the loop-taking devices of said stitch-forming mechanisms, and a device for locking the driving-shaft of the machine in a predetermined position so that the threads will be severed in certain desired places relative to said loop-taking devices.

7. In a machine of the character described, the combination with stitch-formin g mechanisms having reversely-arranged or right-andleft loopers or loop-taking devices, of a threadsevering device having reverselyarranged knives so that the threads of the different stitch-forming mechanisms will be similarly severed.

8. The combination in a sewingrmachine provided with a work-supporting cylinder, as A of a driving-shaft, as B, within said cylinder, looper-carryin g shafts also within said cylinder and geared to said driving-shaft,

needle-carrying bars placed above said cylinder and operatively connected with said driving-shaft and a feeding ring or cylinder encircling said Work-supporting cylinder.

9. The combination in a sewing-machine provided with a work-supporting cylinder, as A of a driving-shaft, as B, within said cylinder, looper-carrying shafts also within said cylinder and geared to said driving-shaft, needle-carrying bars placed above said cylinder and operatively connected with said driving-shaft, a feeding ring or cylinderencircling said work-supporting cylinder, and a thread-cutting device also within said worksupporting cylinder.

10. In a machine for sewing bottle-covers, the combination with stitch-forming mechanisms, of a work-supporting cylinder and a feeding ring or cylinder encircling said worksupporting cylinder, of a material supporting and feeding table the forward or inner edge of which is on a level, or approximately so, with the top of said feeding-cylinder.

11. The combination with a machine for sewing bottle-covers, of a material supporting and feeding table, and a leveling and feeding plate or bar havinga depending gage and pusher, as j, which serves to hold the said plate or bar a predetermined distance above the said table and which also serves, as the said plate or bar is advanced by the attendant, to feed the leveled material beneath the said plate or bar forward to the stitch-forming mechanisms of the machine.

12. The combination with a machine for sewing bottle-covers, of a material support ing and feeding table and a leveling and feeding plate or bar provided with a roughened or serrated lower surface and having a In testimony whereof We affiX our signaclepending gage and pusher, as j, which serves tures in presence of two Witnesses. to hold the said plate or bar a predetermined JOHN DOUGLAS. distance above the said table and which also r i 5 serves, as the said plate or bar is advanced VIOFOR HANSEN by the attendant, to feed the leveled material WVitnesses: beneath the said plate or bar forward to the JOSEPH F. J AQUITH,

stitch-forming mechanisms of the machine. CHAS. H. MORGAN. 

